On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Aliyah lay on the sun lounger, her dark skin slicked with sweat, her tight muscles clearly visible under her exposed skin, as all she wore under the beating sunlight was a white bikini, the loose strings flapping a little in the gentle sea breeze. Reaching for the half-filled glass of brightly-coloured cocktail that was on a low table beside her, she sucked at the straw, sighing as the fruity sugars and alcohol hit her tastebuds. Well, cocktails are more Trey’s thing, but whiskey just doesn’t go with the whole beach vibe…

Indeed, she was at the beach along with her brother and pretty much all of the crew, enjoying the relaxation they had earned through their last successful mission. Aliyah looked down towards the ocean, where men and women were frolicking in the sands and crystal clear waters of the tropical sea. Thankful she was wearing sunglasses, so her gaze was obscured, Aliyah picked out several attractive young women in revealing swimsuits and ogled them unmercifully, licking her lips unconsciously. Damn, so many cute girls of all races here. I think I’m in heaven. Maybe I’ll finish up this drink and go talk to them…

Taking another long sip from the straw, pushing aside the tiny umbrella and fruit-on-sticks that filled the glass, which was completely unnecessary, she felt, she continued to watch, trying to take her mind off the many worries that were rattling around in her skull, tiny daggers that were impossible to ignore. Well shit. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was going to relax, have some drinks, chat up some nice girls, have a beachside romance… fuck. Life is never that easy…

“Still thinking about that damn fool, eh sis? It happens in this business, you know that. I don’t know why you are letting it get to you. This isn’t like you at all. I’d have expected you to be all over the girls and… never mind.” Her brother trailed off as she glared at him, her annoyance clear. Still, he’s right. I guess I don’t even know why I’m so pissed off.

Glancing over at the special secure tablet that they used to receive messages regarding the PMC business and job offers and orders while they were away from their base, she remembered the news that had come through a few days ago. “Well, we did say that going after that girl would be suicide. Those Russians don’t mess about.” She sighed. “Even so… a grim day.”

“No kidding sis.” Trey sat down next to her. He was showing off his own muscled body, lightly dappled with knife scars here and there, as well as a few more impressive wounds that showed he had fought many life-or-death battles. I do wish he wouldn’t wear such tight swim trunks though. Ugh, polluting my damn eyes…

“Well, he was a rival, and a bit of a prick, to be honest, but all of us Private Military Contractors are brothers and sisters in battle, so …” Trey hoisted his own cocktail. “… to that fool Alex Trakand and the Bad Moon Brotherhood. May they rest in peace, and still be fighting up in Heaven, or down in Hell, wherever the poor bastards ended up.”

“Surely Hell. They were a bunch of redneck racists. Didn’t stop the stupid fucker hitting on me every time we met though. People. They don’t make sense.” Aliyah closed her eyes, remembering the last time they had met on a job. The stupid bastard kept trying to grab her ass, until she had just snapped and sucker punched him in the stomach.

“I guess you are just that attractive, Aliyah. And to be fair to him, he was quite the looker himself.”

“If you like that sort of man. I don’t get your taste sometimes Trey. Not that I want to. Still… total fucking wipe-out, eh? I mean, we knew she’d be guarded, but the response… well, it was crazy excessive. A whole FSB platoon, Special Forces, Black Companies… I’m amazed they even had time to send out a last message…”

“That’s why the job was life-changing money. I mean, we wouldn’t have took it anyway, not going after a little girl, but even so… high risk, high reward. It should be the motto of us PMC’s.”

“Amen to that.” Her reminiscing finished, she opened her eyes and finished her drink. Getting off the sun lounger, she stretched languidly, looking like a panther, graceful and mean. “Well, this has really soured my mood. I need to talk to some cuties to…”

The tablet blinked suddenly, flaring to life, displaying a packet of secure messages being received. “Well, what perfect damn timing that was.” She pouted.

“Hey, you want to leave it to me? This is a vacation we earned with your efforts, I can handle checking the job offers.” Trey offered, and she was tempted, but… Nah, my mood is shit now anyway. Fuck you Alex, even getting killed can’t stop you being an annoying shit.

“We might as well take a look. Then I can go on the hunt with no distractions. I can’t believe I’ve struck out so many times already… surely not every girl here can be straight?”

Trey looked like he was about to say something, but then he shook his head, remaining mute. Picking up the tablet, they sat down and entered their passwords, unlocking the data packet.

“Hmm, updates first… yeah, confirmation that the Bad Moon Company got torched. The bounty on Ilya Alexandrovna Kuznetsova has trebled… come on, who in their right mind is going to take that one on after this? Seriously, DOD have no clue sometimes…”

“Yeah, no shit, Trey.” She agreed, nodding, her hair beads jingling softly. “That’s what you get when you let pencil-pushers who’ve never been out on the field run stuff. Still, it doesn’t interest us, right?”

“Yeah… anyway… an update on that weightlifter guy too. Seems he’s probably dead. Missing anyway. Reports say someone blitzed his apartment and all that was left at the scene were signs of a struggle and blood. The Preacher from Utah too, the mission is still open for him, but it says his whereabouts are currently unknown.”

One of the guys from the Company came over, bringing a tray of drinks. Aliyah and Trey both grabbed one, grateful, and as the man left Aliyah noticed him checking her out. Grinding her teeth she reminded herself to work him over good next time they sparred. Maybe a few broken bones will teach him not to undress me with his eyes. Fucking creep. They all know I’m not into them.

Ignoring her obvious double-standards when it came to men looking at her, and her own ogling of women, she waited for Trey to continue, slowly sucking at the new cocktail, which was dark red and sour. Ugh, this shit doesn’t get you drunk at all. No kick. Still, I guess that isn’t all bad…

“Well shit, thirty new targets have been listed, along the same lines as the others. Strange powers, mysterious events around them… there’s a few that looks like they might be interesting. Hang on, another packet is coming through.”

We waited for the download to come through, surprised that it was a red notice. “Well shit. I hope this doesn’t ruin our holiday.” She sighed. I wonder if this has anything to do with our successful capture of that worm from Las Vegas? DOD and some guys from the Pentagon took him off our hands, so…

As we waited for the details to come through on a mission that was designated just for us, hence red notice, she continued to banter with Trey, trying to take her mind off matters that were causing her some concern. That guy, just what am I going to do about… no FUCKING way!

As if by magic when her thoughts turned to him, a series of pictures of him appeared on their tablet, a mixture of low-quality CCTV images, a passport shot and several others.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy who…” Trey began, and Aliyah nodded fiercely.

“Akio Moonstone Oshiro, Japanese national. Priority One International Target.” Trey read, surprised. “Known organisation: None. Known Acquaintances: Unknown *see attachment”

Trey scrolled to the new picture, and it was that girl Shaeula, though all of her information was empty.

“What’s the mission?” she asked, licking her lips nervously. No way, it couldn’t be what I think it is, right? He’s Japanese Special Forces, although… it has him listed as ‘no organisation’ right? That doesn’t make any sense… must be a lack of intel on our side. Useless bastards…

“Due to your knowledge of the target and your success in capturing your prior objective cleanly, you are tasked to provide us with full information on how you would capture the target, any weaknesses and known abilities, as well as provide on-site logistical and if necessary combat support in Japan to apprehend and extradite said target. He is wanted alive, yet any injuries that leave him able to speak are acceptable. His unknown acquaintance is also to be apprehended if found, though this is a secondary objective. Again, all injuries that allow her to be questioned are acceptable.”

Fuck. Worse than I thought… “Injuries that leave them able to speak? The fuck? They mean we can blast off their fucking arms and legs? Japanese citizens? They are supposed to be our staunch allies. This is some fucking savage shit.”

There was further data, clearly pulled from Japanese record offices, such as family registers, addresses, history…

“Well, you did say you wanted to pay him back for humiliating you…?” Trey opined, only to recoil from her furious glare.

“Shit, yeah, I want to. That bastard, he… he…” she wasn’t going to tell her brother she was forced to hug him naked and what happened after, no way! “… still, I just wanted to give him a beating until he pissed blood for a few days and flirt with his fiancée. Not… shit. Not this.”

“I see.” Trey had listened to her ranting about it several times during the holidays, so he knew to keep his mouth shut. “I get you though, I do. He’s just my type. Handsome, lean yet muscular. Can hold his own in a ruckus too, from what you tell me. So… it’s a red notice, getting out of this would really hurt our futures. If it was a suicide mission like that Ilya girl, I’d tell the brass to go fuck themselves, but since it isn’t… well, how would you do it?”

“He’s real good in a fight.” She confirmed. “But rather careless in his professional habits. Since we have his sister’s and his fiancée’s contact details, and there’s more information here… the best way would be to capture them first and use them as leverage. It should be easy enough to trace them with their mobile numbers in hand. We could even message or call them to lure them out, isolate them. It’d be the safest way to trap him. To be honest, if I was going up against him one-on-one, lives on the line, I’m not confident.”

“Seriously? That good?” Trey mused. “Still, this doesn’t sit right with me.”

No shit it doesn’t. “Yeah, no way we would get kids involved in shit like this. This is an adult’s world. If some stupid bastard ends up on the DOD’s radar, well, more fool them. But using kids, children… as part of some operation. Makes me sick.”

“Right. So forget that. Still, this is serious. Looks like on-site there’ll be a Japanese team. Damn, they are using long-buried assets for this, the guy must be seriously important. Looks like we can only bring four, any more and they can’t supply weapons and fear it might draw suspicion.”

“You, me, and a couple of the big guys then.” She sighed, her drink forgotten, her mood ruined. “Fuck, this isn’t what I wanted.”

“So, if we aren’t using the kids as bait, what is the play?” Trey asked, and she considered it for a long moment in silence, only the sounds of the surf and people playing and talking around them.

“Well, I think if we drop him hints regarding a few of the strange terms he was throwing out, we can attract his interest. I do have his phone number after all, so if I send him a text or two…” she picked up the tablet and used its secure function to link to her phone. After typing up a quick message she sent it. “… and voila. That should get him curious. When we meet up with the assets we can arrange a suitable location for an ambush. Fuck, there goes our holiday…”

“I’ll tell Travis and Manx they need to pack.” Her brother shook his head. “At least the rest of the Company can enjoy the rest of their vacation. I’ll leave Luciana in charge.”

“Good choice. She’s got a level head.” Even if she’s a nagging bitch at times… “So, not that it matters, but the pay for this has got to be great, right?”

“Yeah, though considering it’s black-ops support in an allied country, where getting caught out will be an international incident that could rock the world… I’d rather be here on the beach. Damn, why are all the good men so troublesome?”

As Trey set off, leaving Aliyah to confirm their mission parameters, she shook her head once more. Good man? Him? Well, his girls do seem to like him a lot, and he did let me hit him when … that… happened. I guess my brother does have a little bit of good taste, now and again… still, no matter how good he was, how well he could take a hit, against the firepower the assets would bring to bear… yeah, best hope you come quietly, before your friends and family get involved. That cutie too. Shaeula. She was way too pretty to be caught up in this mess. Since she was a secondary target, if she slipped the net, it wouldn’t be a problem…

Maybe I can…? No, no way. Shit, if I got caught doing that… fuck! This day couldn’t get any worse…